The authorities have confirmed that more than 100 wild birds found dead in the Gengahai region of Qinghai province "died of avian flu", sparking fears that the virus could mix with the A(H1N1) outbreak if it spread.
Tests on 121 dead migratory birds in Qinghai on Sunday revealed the carcasses contained the pathogenic bird flu virus, said a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Local authorities have culled nearly 600 poultry in the region, the ministry said.
Experts warned of the possibility of the A(H1N1) and H5N1 strains "re-assorting or mutating" in humans or pigs to threaten more lives if the former is allowed to spread.
"We cannot ignore the possibility that the strains could re-assort to generate a new type of virus with a high transmission and fatality rate among people," Guan Yi, a professor with the department of microbiology from the University of Hong Kong, said.
"Mutation of the bird flu virus with H1N1 would be disastrous," Guan said, adding that checks on the possibility of human-to-human transmission of bird flu was "still necessary in the fight against the H1N1". As of May 6, the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu in humans worldwide is 423, with a death toll of 258, figures from the World Health Organization showed.
Source: China Daily
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